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Metal – aluminium
We use 5 billion aluminium cans a year, enough to reach to the moon and back. About 42% of aluminium cans were recycled in the UK in 2001 and about 50% world-wide.

• To make 1 tonne of aluminium it takes 4 tonnes of bauxite ore.

• Mining bauxite causes huge environmental damage. It is mined by open cast mining which may destroy the surface habitats which are often tropical rainforest e.g., in West Africa, the West Indies and Australia. It also leaves behind red brown mud.

• Transporting the ore and aluminium uses energy.

• Aluminium is extracted from bauxite by electrolysis. It is this part of the process which uses huge amounts of energy. It takes nearly 5 times as much energy to make a tonne of aluminium as to make a tonne of steel.

• Aluminium can be recycled over and over again with no loss of quality.

Recycling Aluminium cans, foil and foil containers

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP THE WASTE ALUMINIUM PROBLEM?

Find out more
www.alucan.org.uk

www.thinkcans.com

Metal - steel cans
Steel cans account for 3 out of 4 of the total 17 billion cans produced every year in the UK, including cans for food, drinks and pet food. in 2003 2.5 billion steel cans were recycled. However another 9 billion were not!

Raw materials for 1 tonne of steel are:

• 1.2 tonnes of iron ore
• 0.5 tonnes of coke
• 0.03 tonnes of limestone
• 0.3 tonnes of scrap steel

• Burning of coke in iron and steel works leads to air emissions putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which contributes to acid rain and the green house effect.
  
  
• They are often called tin cans because they have a very thin layer of tin to protect the surface of the can. Many of them are food cans, some are drinks cans.
  
  
• They have been ‘lightweighted’ to 30% lighter than 5 years ago.

• It takes 75% less energy to make steel from recovered metal than it does from mined ores which means you can make 4 recycled cans for the energy of 1 new one.

• Transport costs of collection and sorting do have to be taken into account.